Author Archives: columbusfoodandbeer

Hi there! I’m Ryan, from Columbus Food and Beer. I’ll be doing the beer reviewing tonight, but first I’d like to tell you a little about myself. Just don’t stalk me or try to kidnap me.

I’m a student at Ohio State majoring in Physics, and I’m in my mid-twenties. I drink a lot of beer, but not in the binge-drink I’m at a frat party kind-of-way. What I mean is that I drink a lot of different kinds of beer, because I love new experiences. I also love food, and eat a lot of it. Somehow, I’m not 500 lbs, but I think I’ll be someday.

I decided to start a blog about three of my passions: food, beer, and Columbus. It’s all about discovering what’s good in Columbus, and I make an effort to push for more. Now, I think these paragraphs fall into the “other nonsense” category of this blog. Time for the good stuff: the booze.

Appearance: Since this is a Belgian strong dark ale, I poured it into my tulip glass (yeah, I’m fancy). The first thing I notice is the huge, chocolate-colored head. It’s pretty impressive, and it recedes to form a nice frothy top on the beer. Here, take a look:

Aroma: As expected, it’s a dark beer. It has a great chocolaty aroma, with a lot of dark fruits in there too. Maybe some molasses? It’s also a little boozy, which is surprising for only 7.7%. Overall, this beer has a pretty mild nose.

Taste: Oh, man. This is a beautifully complex beer. I mean, seriously, this is good. Dark fruity flavors (plums, I think) accompany the roasted malts, which give a nice toasty flavor. It’s mildly sweet, and it’s a little spicy, too. Hops just make their presence known at the end, and vanish quickly. It has a very dry finish (wouldn’t be a Belgian without the dry finish!). The finish is also slightly chocolaty and a little spicy, and it lingers in the mouth for a little bit. Pretty creamy mouth feel.

Overall: I love it. It’s not what I anticipated at all, but I’m very pleased. It’s also not too heavy, so I could imagine hitting a few of these pretty quickly and getting dizzy. I’d give this beer an 85/100, with a few points deducted because it’s so expensive ($16 for a six-pack…what??). However, it’s worth the splurge, especially if you have a few friends to go in on it with you.

Now, I like to do a breakdown for points on my blog, so here’s how I’d do it: